Which Fertility Treatment Is Right for You?

When a couple wishes to conceive, the nine-month wait is long enough. We provide support and fertility treatment to help couples reach conception as soon as possible. We offer various treatments, like artificial insemination, IVF, and more. But which one is right for you?

Infertility Testing

The first step in the process is meeting with you. At this time, we’ll discuss your reproductive and medical history, talk about your lifestyle, and provide you with a physical examination. While sometimes that’s enough insight, in most cases, patients require a more comprehensive evaluation.

Some of the initial testing we provide includes:

Semen analysis
Hysterosalpingogram
Hormone test
Pelvic ultrasound

A male fertility test, known as semen analysis, may consist of a specialist from taking a sample of semen and assessing its count and motility. We’ll also check it for sperm abnormalities.

A female may be advised to undergo a hysterosalpingogram — an imaging test that allows our specialist to examine the uterus and fallopian tubes.

Hormone testing is used to evaluate hormone levels and determine if the female is ovulating normally.

Finally, we may recommend a pelvic ultrasound to inspect a woman’s reproductive organs.

The testing you receive depends on your gender and factors associated with your initial evaluation.

Treatment Options

Depending on the cause of your infertility, we’ll determine a treatment option for you.

For instance, in some patients, the cause of not successfully getting pregnant is timing. Ovulation is the peak time for conception to occur. We’ll advise you on signs when a woman is ovulating and recommend ovulation monitors to assist in the process. Then, the key is to time intercourse around that particular time each month.

We may recommend drug therapy for a female, which is to stimulate ovulation if a woman isn’t ovulating normally. Possible options include:

Letrozole
Clomid
Gonadotropins

With these treatments, a woman releases more than one egg at a time to increase the chances of a couple getting pregnant.

If an issue with sperm motility is the primary cause of a couple’s infertility, our specialist will recommend intrauterine insemination, which consists of us monitoring the female’s ovulation and applying a sperm sample into the uterus during ovulation.

For problems directly associated with a male’s sperm count or quality, we may recommend intracytoplasmic sperm injection — a treatment where a sperm cell is injected into a mature egg to create fertilization when it wasn’t happening on its own naturally.

Embryo-assisted hatching is often used for women of advanced maternal age or those who’ve previously undergone unsuccessful IVF cycles. During this treatment, our specialist will create a crack in an embryo using either a laser or acid. By “hatching” the embryo, it’s more likely to implant in the uterus.

An embryo transfer can be used when there’s a problem on either the male’s or the female’s part. This process consists of having an embryo created outside of the womb, and then it’s implanted into the uterus. This option is the last stage of in vitro fertilization.

When these options can’t address the target cause of your infertility, we can refer you to another specialist who can treat the problem. For example, this option is used in a case when a woman has a blocked fallopian tube that requires surgical intervention.

Continuous Monitoring and Further Intervention

Keep in mind that the success rate varies based on the treatment. Sometimes, conception is most likely to occur in a specific period, such as three to six months with ovulation-stimulating drugs. If conception doesn’t happen after that, further intervention may be necessary.

Moreover, once we administer a fertility treatment, such as a Melbourne IVF treatment, we’ll monitor you afterward to determine its success. If your initial treatment is unsuccessful, though we hope it’s not, we’ll advise you on the next course of action and possibly a different infertility treatment.

Our goal is to help couples reach their dreams of starting a family or adding another little one to the mix. The specific treatment that’s right for you depends on why the infertility is occurring.